New Skilled Regional Visas (subclass 491 and 494) From 16 November 2019

[Arju_12]

 

• *From 16 November 2019*
  Introducing two new regional skilled visas and changes to its point system.
  1) Visa subclass 491: Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 491), a new and enhanced points-tested visa to assist regional Australia, for applicants nominated by a state or territory government agency or sponsored by an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area. This will be replacing visa subclass 489.
  2) Visa subclass 494: Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (Subclass 494), a new and enhanced employer-sponsored visa to assist regional Australia, with two streams: Employer-Sponsored and Labour Agreement. This will be replacing visa subclass 187.
  Old visa 489 & 187 superseded by these new visas.
  Changes to the point system for 491 visa:
  o 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia, to live and work in regional Australia;

  o 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner;

  o 10 points for certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) qualifications;
  o 5 points for a spouse or de facto partner with ‘competent English’;

  o 10 points for applicants without a spouse or de facto partner

  Subclass 489 visa holders will continue to be able to access the Subclass 887 (Skilled – Regional) visa which is the permanent pathway visa for this group, subject to satisfying existing criteria.

  For detailed report please see the link below.
  Source: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00578/Explanatory Statement/Text

[Arju_12]

Information from DHA about 16/11/2019 EOIs and Points test visas

DHA has clarified information on the updating of points for submitted EOIs when the 16 November 2019 changes come into effect.

The Department has clarified that:

– SkillSelect will automatically update points for all Expressions of Interest (EOI) in submitted status.
– EOIs in draft status will not be updated, as no points have been attributed at this stage in the system
– There will be no change to the ‘date of effect’ for any EOI when this change is applied.
– Points will only be updated once an EOI is submitted
– Specific systems functionality is still being developed and any information required by agents will be provided once the process has been finalised, however, no applicant or intending migrant will be disadvantaged by the changes to 6D points for Points Tested visas.

This might be helpful to clear confusion about DOE of EOI
Thanks